Thunder Over Waters hits town Sunday

WATERS — The seventh annual Thunder Over Waters festival Sunday will bring together the local community and surrounding area to show off what the village of Waters has to offer.

The one-day festival will feature a 5K run and walk, pancake and sausage breakfast, parade with more participants than ever, arts and crafts show and games. It concludes with a bang with a thunderous display of fireworks at dusk.

“If you’ve been to Waters you know it’s a pretty small town, but for a small town we put on a really big festival, and it’s really cool to see everyone coming together from all over to be a part of it,” said Bob Holmes, chairman of the festival and the owner of Waters Inn.

This is Holmes’ first year as chairman, but he has been involved in planning the festival each of the last seven years.

Festival honorees this year include Tom Wagar as grand marshal and Gaylord Elks Club as honored organization.

Madge Smith said Wagar goes above and beyond in sponsoring the festival’s 5K run and supplies vehicles for the parade.

“He just does so much for the festival and I felt it was time he be honored,” said Smith, a founder of the festival.

Brenda Goosman, another festival founder, said the Elks Club works hard to get bicycles for the giveaway, which has outfitted hundreds of kids with bikes over the years.

“It feels good to think there’s groups out there that will give their time and money for this,” Goosman said. “This is a small community so when you get a group that will do this for you it’s pretty great.”

Goosman also thanked ABATE Region 4, Live to Give and Chevron for their bike donations.

The festivities begin at 8:30 a.m. with 5K at the Township Park Memorial Drive and the pancake and sausage breakfast served at the Keg Bar & Grill, 10530 Old 27 South.

The first 100 people to finish the 5K will receive a Thunder Over Waters zip-up nylon vest.

Games and entertainment will continue all day long with highlights such as the Miss Thunder Over Waters Award Ceremony at 2 p.m. and waterball with volunteer firefighters at 3 p.m.

“One of the most exciting things for the kids is the bike giveaway,” Holmes said. “This year we will have around 50 to 60 bikes. The bike giveaway will begin at 4 p.m. and continue until all the bikes are gone.”

There will be some additions to parade including the Houghton Lake Float with its festival queen and a Taco Bell mild sauce packet handing out coupons for free tacos.

“My favorite part of the day is the fireworks display at dusk,” Holmes said.

Eagle 101.5 will broadcast live for a half hour before the fireworks and there will be floating lanterns for sale to set off into the sky.